East Central Reporter

Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Vandalia) has called out Illinois’ coronavirus policies.

“The results are tragic and many were avoidable,” Plummer posted on Facebook. “We failed to protect the most vulnerable among us, harmed our children, crushed the economy, and put politics ahead of common-sense policy." 

He posted a link to a National Bureau of Economic Research study. "According to this study, our performance ranks 46th out of 50 states.” 

In the paper published in mid-April, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ranked Illinois 46th out of 51 states and territories in terms of how their COVID-19 policies affected the people of the state. 

The ranking looked at unemployment numbers, industry-adjusted GDP, and in-person schooling rates, among other factors to rank the states and territories. At the opposite end of the scale, Nebraska got an A-plus rating.

Wirepoints seized on the report and noted that Illinois was solidly mid-pack for factors like mortality. “Illinois is just about smack average on mortality. It ranks 24th among the states on COVID deaths per capita, adjusted for age and healthcare differences among states.”

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported 33,568 Illinoisians died from COVID-19. 

The NBER study is an expanded and updated version of an October 2020 report card on the effects of pandemic health, economy, and policy varied across the 50 states and the District of Columbia (Committee to Unleash Prosperity 2020).

NBC Chicago reported that IDPH is warning of rising COVID cases.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Illinois is ready for any surges.

“Even though we’ve seen a rise in cases — and, by the way, that doesn’t even include the cases that probably are occurring where people are testing at home and not reporting … but even with a rise in cases, and including those, we’re not seeing a rise in hospitalizations,” Pritzker said, according to Block Club Chicago. “It’s very small upticks and even downticks all across the state; but on balance, we’re not seeing a significant rise or really any rise right now” in hospitalizations.